Who will helm Barcelona after Vilanova's exit?

Who will helm Barcelona after Vilanova's exit?

Barcelona were mourning the enforced exit of ailing coach Tito Vilanova on Saturday but there was also a sense the Spanish champions were prepared to move swiftly to appoint a successor and focus on preparations for next season.

President Sandro Rosell made the announcement late on Friday that Vilanova, who has been battling throat cancer the past two years, needed more treatment that meant he would be unable to remain in charge of the first team.

A replacement for the 44-year-old, who was promoted from assistant coach to succeed Pep Guardiola at the end of the 2011-12 season, would likely be announced early next week, Rosell added.

Many of the first team squad were at Rosell's news conference, including World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, and the club cancelled a friendly they were due to play against Polish side Lechia Gdansk on Saturday and suspended training until Monday.

"Life goes on," Rosell said. "Obviously this is a very hard blow to take but Barca has suffered many blows in our history and we have always come through. This will be no different."

Image: Assistant coach, Jordi Roura, Carles Puyol, Lionel Messi and Jose Manuel Pinto of FC Barcelona look on during a press conference by club President Sandro Rosell, announcing the news of Tito Vilanova's resignation at the Sant Joan Despi Sports Complex on FridayPhotographs: David Ramos/Getty Images

Ferrer 'Rubi' could take over from Vilanova

Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia reported that Joan Francesc Ferrer, known as "Rubi", could be in line to take over, while daily Sport said the former Girona coach might be a temporary replacement.

Ferrer led Girona to the second division playoffs last season and was appointed Vilanova's assistant for the coming campaign to help with technical analysis of Barca's rivals.

Jupp Heynckes, who led Bayern Munich to an unprecedented treble of Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League titles last season before being replaced by Guardiola, and Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, who was in charge at Athletic Bilbao until the end of last term, were also named as possible candidates.